After my morning ski fiasco the hangover began to wear off and I still wanted to get outdoors. So I figured I'd sweat out the remainder of last night's booze with a hike.
Mrs. Admin and I headed up Mill Creek Canyon, which starts barely a mile from my house. Our intention was to summit Mt. Aire, which at relatively low elevation, in a snow deprived corner of the Wasatch and with a south-facing trail seemed like a good plan. It was a good plan, actually, until I realized that the upper half of the Mill Creek Canyon Road isn't yet open. I figured it would be by now but it turns out that doesn't happen until July 1st regardless of snow. ](*,)
So we grabbed the map and plotted Plan B. We settled on Grandeur Peak. Now, this deserves some explanation. I live literally at the foot of Grandeur Peak. The National Forest boundary is but a half block up the street. Yet despite living here since January 2005 I have yet to reach the summit. I've hiked the lower half several times with my dog Zach shortly after moving here but never reached the top. That seemed like a shame and something I should rectify.
There are two routes up Grandeur. You can ascend from the south via Mill Creek Canyon or you can tack 1,000 more vertical onto your route and climb the west side from my neighborhood. We were doing the former.
The trail begins by following the babbling Church Fork.
A little ways up we arrived at the Church Fork Wall, which has a 5.10+ climbing route bolted for top roping. We skirted around to the top of the wall to pause for a moment to take in the view.
Shortly thereafter, however, Mrs. Admin's knee started bothering her, the one she injured at Canyons Resort a couple of months back, and she made the decision to turn back. I tossed her the car keys and decided to descend via the west route after summiting to hike right back to my front door.
About halfway up the trail splits from both Church Fork and the forest, ascending the ridge via switchbacks through scrub oak that afforded wonderful views back toward Gobblers Knob, which still looks eminently skiable.
Upon reaching the ridgeline you get your first views down into Parley's Canyon and across downtown Salt Lake City to the Great Salt Lake beyond. Once wrapping around the southeast side of the summit you make a final push to the top, a small point with 360-degree views.
After a quick snack I started to descend the western trail, which follows this ridge all the way from the Salt Lake Valley.
Honestly, this trail was brutal. While the trail from Church Fork was planned in advance and designed and built well, the approach from the west is an old herd path that gradually became an established trail just from frequent use. It's relentlessly steep and is filled with nothing but loose rock. There are no embedded rocks to brace yourself against so it was slow going as I had to keep my soles flat on the slope and my weight forward in an attempt to keep myself from slipping. I was often sidestepping down the hill. Shade is nearly non-existent. It made for a long route home but there were fortunately all manner of wildflowers sprouting to keep me entertained.
While the ascent via Church Fork was rather busy, I only saw one pair of hikers during my entire descent of the west side trail.
By the time I walked into my driveway I was exhausted. Three miles and 2,300 vertical feet going up, three miles and 3,300 vertical feet of pure hell going down, but it was remarkable to me how many different climate zones I'd walked through on a six mile hike. Mrs. Admin had a delicious dinner waiting, which we ate al fresco on the deck. For a day that started off fairly lousy it sure turned out well!
Mrs. Admin and I headed up Mill Creek Canyon, which starts barely a mile from my house. Our intention was to summit Mt. Aire, which at relatively low elevation, in a snow deprived corner of the Wasatch and with a south-facing trail seemed like a good plan. It was a good plan, actually, until I realized that the upper half of the Mill Creek Canyon Road isn't yet open. I figured it would be by now but it turns out that doesn't happen until July 1st regardless of snow. ](*,)
So we grabbed the map and plotted Plan B. We settled on Grandeur Peak. Now, this deserves some explanation. I live literally at the foot of Grandeur Peak. The National Forest boundary is but a half block up the street. Yet despite living here since January 2005 I have yet to reach the summit. I've hiked the lower half several times with my dog Zach shortly after moving here but never reached the top. That seemed like a shame and something I should rectify.
There are two routes up Grandeur. You can ascend from the south via Mill Creek Canyon or you can tack 1,000 more vertical onto your route and climb the west side from my neighborhood. We were doing the former.
The trail begins by following the babbling Church Fork.
A little ways up we arrived at the Church Fork Wall, which has a 5.10+ climbing route bolted for top roping. We skirted around to the top of the wall to pause for a moment to take in the view.
Shortly thereafter, however, Mrs. Admin's knee started bothering her, the one she injured at Canyons Resort a couple of months back, and she made the decision to turn back. I tossed her the car keys and decided to descend via the west route after summiting to hike right back to my front door.
About halfway up the trail splits from both Church Fork and the forest, ascending the ridge via switchbacks through scrub oak that afforded wonderful views back toward Gobblers Knob, which still looks eminently skiable.
Upon reaching the ridgeline you get your first views down into Parley's Canyon and across downtown Salt Lake City to the Great Salt Lake beyond. Once wrapping around the southeast side of the summit you make a final push to the top, a small point with 360-degree views.
After a quick snack I started to descend the western trail, which follows this ridge all the way from the Salt Lake Valley.
Honestly, this trail was brutal. While the trail from Church Fork was planned in advance and designed and built well, the approach from the west is an old herd path that gradually became an established trail just from frequent use. It's relentlessly steep and is filled with nothing but loose rock. There are no embedded rocks to brace yourself against so it was slow going as I had to keep my soles flat on the slope and my weight forward in an attempt to keep myself from slipping. I was often sidestepping down the hill. Shade is nearly non-existent. It made for a long route home but there were fortunately all manner of wildflowers sprouting to keep me entertained.
While the ascent via Church Fork was rather busy, I only saw one pair of hikers during my entire descent of the west side trail.
By the time I walked into my driveway I was exhausted. Three miles and 2,300 vertical feet going up, three miles and 3,300 vertical feet of pure hell going down, but it was remarkable to me how many different climate zones I'd walked through on a six mile hike. Mrs. Admin had a delicious dinner waiting, which we ate al fresco on the deck. For a day that started off fairly lousy it sure turned out well!